Police have started to contact 163 families after ashes were left unidentifiable by a funeral director in Hull. Humberside Police received a report on March 6 about the storage and management processes at Legacy Independent Funeral Directors and cordons were put in place at the company's three sites. A total of 35 bodies were discovered from the Hessle Road branch, along with a quantity of ashes.
Subsequently, a 46-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position. They have since been released on bail. In April Humberside Police confirmed they would not be able to individually identify the ashes and are now making contact with the families concerned.
For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter . READ MORE: The beautiful part of Wales that could change its mind for the first time in decades READ MORE: The huge number of teachers and other school staff made redundant in Wales Speaking at a press conference at the time, Assistant Chief Constable Thom McLoughlin said that that although the cremation was carried out properly, it would be impossible to recover the DNA due to the high temperature of the cremation process. He added: "Whilst the expert opinion provides us with assurance that the proper cremation process had been followed, unfortunately, given the high temperature required to carry out a cremation, the DNA will have be.
